


I Need A Hero

by Chocobomausi (orphan_account)



Category: Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Alternate Universe - Magic, Blood and Gore, Dismemberment, First Kiss, I like magic and i liked the characters in the original but Jack and Rhys have the same dynamic, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-27 01:08:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6263497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Chocobomausi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys needs to get a one-up on his biggest enemy and rival Vasquez, so summoning one of the most ancient and powerful Djinn seemed like a good idea, but he's starting to have regrets as Jack is more trouble than he's worth. - orphaned cause I ran out of steam and inspiration for this ship sorry...still like them just can't bring myself to ever finish it. - Twitter: aNEM0nefish</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Asking For Trouble

                The computer fans in the room whirred faster than usual, the lights flickering followed by loud pops and sparks, the lights flashing faster, a low whistle starting to build up into what sounded like a thousand dying screams when suddenly the room fell dead silent, and the power gone out.

“Boo.”

“DON’T…Sneak up on me!”

“Sneaking? I don’t sneak.” He chuckled darkly.

The boy had jumped a bit but had managed to stay in his well-drawn protective circle. Damn. He took the form of blue smoke, golden eyes glowing from the center of the fog. This kid was a beanstalk, by human standards, a young adult. His hair was a warm brown color, brown and blue eyes laced with fear, yet hardened, his cybernetic hand flexing as he tried to assert control over the situation, yet continued to shake like a leaf. He let his smoke fan out, only reaching the edges of his own circle to intimidate him, but unfortunately, his containment circle was also drawn perfectly, no misspellings or wrong angles.

                “I c-c-c-“

Oh come _on,_ get on with it!

                “I command you t-to…identify y-yourself! What is your name?”

What a fucking idiot, this kid knew exactly who he was, if he had summoned him. To summon, everything had to be perfect, down to the name, you don’t just call up anybody like a bus. He picked a strong voice of confidence, deep, almost purring, yet gave it a good echo-y feel like he was all over the place.

                “Jack.”

The kid swallowed hard, which was a good sign, and meant he was familiar of his reputation.

                “I command you…to tell me if you’re the Jack that was summoned to repair the city of Opportunity?”

Oh boy.

“I am Jack! I am HANDSOME Jack, the strong, the goddamn hero, and bandit killer, I have rebuilt New Haven, Lynchwood, and Opportunity! I’ve talked to many leaders, run with skags and watched as they fed on the corpses of abandoned great cities! I am Jack! I don’t recognize anybody to tell me what to do, so, I command you cupcake, and who are _you_ to summon _me_?”

                Very awesome, all true, of course, naturally. If this princess got flustered enough, maybe he’d spill his name, and with a name being so valuable, he could exploit his weaknesses. The kid may have been terrified, but he was not that easy.

                “H-ha, you’re the one in my control, so I am your superior actually. You will do what I say.”

Annoying, but he was tired now, so moving on.

                “Alright, what is it that you wish for yadda yadda yadda.”

This kid admittedly was full of surprises, possibly the youngest in a while to have summoned him in a millennia if he was perfectly honest. Hopefully his request could be misinterpreted as a joke, and then he could leave having fulfilled his duty.

                “I command you to get a vault key from Vallory’s son, August, and bring it back to me from Pandora by the time I summon you tomorrow morning.”

Wait, hold the phone, the horses, and pull the breaks. Stop. Everything.

                “Who-o-o-o-oah, waitaminute, what?”

                “I command you to get-“

                “Nononononono, I heard what you said, pumpkin.”

                “Then leave and do it?”

He felt the first dismiss command, which basically feels like you’re being pulled inside-out, but to get rid of a djinn entirely requires the magician to make the command three times. Usually, Jack would happily leave on the first, but curiosity was getting the better of him.

                “Kiddo, do you even know what you want?”

                “I’m not making deals with you, bets, listening to jokes or answering riddles-“

                “Yeah well I’m not into talking to a leggy kid but here we are, believe me. I think someone is fucking with you sweetheart, so- who is it? Your boss? Hiding behind a kid like you?”

The fog around him receded, shrouding his preferred physical form of a broad shouldered man, a grey streak in his hair, and an intimidating scar on his face, arms crossed as he scrutinized the brunet.

                “You’re messing with something bigger than yourself by summoning me, cupcake. Where are we, Helios?”

He nodded. Looking around the apartment, and out the window, it was definitely Helios, as he identified Elpis and Pandora from the angle he was at. The walls of the room of the apartment were covered in Hyperion-issued posters, but nothing really personal like a sexy chick magazine that nerds like this usually had when they couldn’t get laid.

                He laughed with pity, “Wow. Tough place to be and you don’t seem to be learning much…”

                “I’m not scared of you, I’ve given my command, so go!”

The second dismissal and now his insides felt like he had been flattened.  Why was he so keen on staying? It was just another human and yet, he felt like he needed to warn him.

                “You don’t know what you’re dealing with kiddo, Pandora is full of bandits like Vallory, she’ll find out it was you and you’ll get killed. You’re cute, but it won’t help.”

                “You’re under _my_ control Jack.”

He sighed. Stupid, but determined.

                “Yup.” He said, popping the p.

He lifted his cybernetic hand, uttering a familiar syllable to a spell to inflict a stupid amount of pain. That’s all it took for Jack to get out. He left without as much flair as he had appeared.


	2. Long Time, No See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting the vault key isn't easy, also dirt sucks.

Jack made it outside of August’s establishment at the Purple Skag, taking on the form of a rakk to remain hidden as he observed the building. Holding the physical manifestation of anything made him itch and got painful if he held it too long, and would need to change at some point, but with a covert mission like this, he couldn’t risk transforming at the wrong time. He rubbed his snout against an abandoned box at the top of a building he was resting upon, for now the itch better.

Humans can only see on the first plane, but beings like him could see more. Think of it as a lens at the doctor’s office and everything becoming clearer as you flip from lens to lens. Some more intelligent creatures could see at least on two but not more than that. So far, nothing seemed strange, there was a defense nexus on the second plane, common sense, covering the establishment in a bubble. Nothing appeared on the third or fourth but on the fifth, there were sentries making rounds in the air, and another at the door disguised as a large human. So, no flying in, or walking for that matter. As a reflex he shrank down a little, not that he had to worry, his disguise was covered on all seven planes, but if they got closer, they might see through the ruse.

There had to be more he wasn’t picking up on the seventh plane when the sixth had been clear, and he could do more, but it was unnecessary, so he opted for the less pleasant option. Having a gut feeling that there had to be something prowling around, especially with a valuable vault key inside, he glided down, burrowing down quickly as a spiderant.

Dirt of any sort was gross, but mostly, Pandoran dirt was disgusting. As long as he was above ground, whether it be running, flying, absolutely fine, but underground was not his jam. However, he had been aching to change, and he couldn’t be picky at this point, so it would have to do. He encountered other living creatures as he dug under the building, and found a small knothole in the floorboards. Above, he heard the sound of cheers and laughter, mugs being clinked together. He changed into a small fly for the moment with an internal sigh.

Landing himself on a drab wall, he observed the room, which was mostly empty save for August and another man with ugly hair, clearly fake. While his hair was fake, his power was not. There was an imp on his shoulder as a look out, looking about diligently. August was not much in comparison, a lackey if anything. The kid must have known these two were going to meet up here if he wanted him to grab the vault key and go.

“Sorry I was late today August, but you know how the business can be on Helios.”

“Yeah yeah, I get it Hugo, tough corporate job and all that.”

“Right well, I need you to hold onto the vault key for a while longer, alright? I know how hard it was to retrieve it from the Underdome with those psycho’s and all but you’ll get your due rewards, promise.”

“Right, great, cause Vallory is getting antsy, Vasquez.”

“Oh I know, tell her not to worry, I’ve got everything almost ready.”

Hugo Vasquez. That seemed about right for a slimy looking human, August seemed more polite by a lot. Itching again, he rubbed his legs together. He couldn’t change just yet, not with this magician and his imp in the room. Finally, Vasquez finally perked his ear when the imp tapped him, turning toward the door.

“Sir, your car is ready.”

“Finally! Well August, I’ll check in tomorrow, I’ve left a couple of things here just to make sure that key stays safe”

Oh…that was an interesting tidbit. He might have to fight his way out if Vasquez deliberately left “something” here.

“Yeah sure. Thanks.”

As everyone started to leave and August closed up and left, he finally made his way up the stairs where there seemed to be a fire alarm. On closer inspection, it was a little bug-eyed creature, hopping about. Definitely the right way then. Sending some obscuring magic, the creature hopped and made noises of confusion, and flew past him, the door beyond sealed tight save for the bottom of the door. Too small for a fly, but enough for him to become smoke, filtering himself inside before the magic on security wore off.

When he solidified, he became a teenage girl.

If he had known the kid’s name, he would have spited him, taking on his form instead, which would help the Vasquez should he be caught catch the perpetrator to the theft of his key. But with no name, he had no power. So he defaulted to this girl, someone he had adored, but long dead. If he was captured, no harm would be done to this girl, her body already resting in peace, and it made him happy to remember her like this. She was pale, with a side shave and her dark hair in a side ponytail, and intelligent blue eyes.

In the room there were all sorts of magical items and knick-knacks, few fake, some for cute magic shows, some with actual worth or power that was tangible. But he was here for the vault key. It was not a key he had seen before, the white and orange sphere being the most secure thing in the room. Who these people had to kill to acquire it, he had no idea, but he was sure it was many. Definitely what he was looking for. From here on out, it was going to be tough.

So he broke the containment it was in, shrank it down with a charm, and pocketed it. The house then began to stir, and as we know, Jack doesn’t sneak. Something was coming after him fast. He ran out the door, kicking it down like it was nothing, and bolting. The creature in the hallway spotted him, a bile rising from its throat to spit at him. He slid past as the bile narrowly missed him, burning a hole in the floor, and returned with a compression spell, causing it to implode on itself.

He didn’t stop running, now putting a protective shield on himself, which as luck would have it, was a brilliant idea if he said so himself, because now there were shots being fired at him. There was an explosion beneath him propelling him forward, and when he landed, stumbled a bit. When he managed to look at who caused the explosion, he saw someone quite familiar.

“JACK!”

He started running again, dodging more shots and explosions around him until he ended up cornering himself in the bar kitchen. Great. What was worse was the greasy man seemed totally unfazed by a little girl’s presence with explosions happening everywhere around them, his name being shouted with rage. Buying some time, he put a seal on the door behind him.

He started checking grease-face, and on all six planes, he was clear but on the seventh…shit.

“Jack.”

“Lilith.”

“ ’Sup?”

“Pretty good.”

“It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Too bad.”

He shrugged, grinning sheepishly, “Well, I’m happy to grace your presence.”

“Yup.”

Explosions continued behind him, but the seal held strong.

“Brick still seems fun.”

“Same old, same old. He’s been pretty bored though, that’s about it.”

“Yeah I guess so, Vasquez must be pretty powerful if he’s got you two on a leash.”

“Whoa, who said anything about leashes? We’re just biding our time with Vallory.”

“Sure you are.”

“So how come you’re not showing your true form hm? Kind of rude don’t you think?”

“Yeah well…”

“Listen I’m gonna make this easy. You’ve got that Gortys key on you, and you’re gonna put it down, and tell me who sent you.”

He scoffed, “Sorry sweetcheeks, I can’t do that unfortunately.” Which was totally true. But he wasn’t about to leave empty handed back to the kid.

“You can and you will handsome. Make this as painless as possible. You’re also off your game today, letting yourself get corralled over here.”

“Just following along.” He shrugs.

“Uh-huh, how about stepping away from that window you are trying to escape through, it’s obvious, even for a human.”

She held out her hands, quirking her brows expectantly. He sighed dramatically, taking it out of his pocket, looking around for any ideas.

“C’mon Jack, hand it over.”

Instead, he dropped the seal behind him, and a well-timed Brick had set off another explosion, sending Lilith flying against the wall. Running out to make his escape, he was almost home bound, flashing the wandering sentinels. As he left the building, alarms started blaring, and made a change into the fastest flying Pandoran creature I could think of, and thank god he made it out as some psycho’s were excited by the commotion, coming after him but were met with an invisible obstruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a Jack focused chapter with some minor explanation of how Djinni's work. The Gortys is going to be much smaller than in canon and work more like a charm than an actual key so to speak but we'll see where this goes. Next chapter will be Rhys focused on how he trained to be an advanced magician.


	3. Don't Trust Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some background info when Rhys was training at Hyperion before knowing any magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're welcome for a bloody update. :)

“Most importantly, and make sure you get this into your head, because I don’t want you to forget the most important thing. Do you know what it is?” his boss began.

“No, sir.”

“Lucky for you, I’ll tell you,” he paused, “Remember that demons are evil, and will take advantage if you give them an inch and go the mile. Got it?”

“Y-yeah.”

“You say that but you don’t seem like you really get it…”

“Oh no! I do, don’t let them take advantage of you, demons are evil.” He summarized.

It was cold in the room, a window facing Elpis. The kid was tired, and wanted to go to bed, but tried to show nonetheless that he was attentive to the lesson he was getting.

“Ever seen a demon?”

“No, sir. Except only on the ECHOnet.”

“Get up.”

He stood quickly. His boss scowled at his height already starting to shoot above his own.

“You remember where my office is?”

“Yes, down the hall sir.”

“Perfect, in the room, there’s a box with glasses on the desk. Put them on and come back here.”

“Yes, sir.”

His boss dismissed him, and he made his way down the hall to the man’s office. He’d never been in the office before, so he dreamt of what magical items could be inside or magic-enhanced tech could lie in wait.

When the doors opened for him, he stepped inside, and was sorely disappointed. It looked like a regular corporate office, some items dusty from lack of attention, and the desktop monitor humming. Just as his boss had said, there was the glasses case. He reached for them, and pocketing the glasses. Suddenly, he heard some dark laughter, and scuttling, whipping his head around. He saw nothing, and the space station continued on silently. A shiver went down his spine as he heard a whisper against his ear, turning around quickly, still nothing, running a hand through brown locks nervously. Quickly, he made his way to the door again, but for some reason, it wouldn’t budge.

What the fuck.

The quiet whispers and shuffling continued, some chuckling and squeaking laughter before he started hyperventilating in fear, and began to shout.

“Shut up!”

The room fell silent. He bit his lip, the door still not letting him through. Well, his boss had said to put the glasses on before he came back, so that was the next idea he had. Putting them on, he gasped audibly, seeing the corporate office for what it really was. Everywhere, there were small imps and other disgusting creatures lining the floor and walls and on the desk of every imaginable color and gradation and mix. The creatures that had hushed themselves then knew immediately that he could see them. Rhys yelped in terror as they let out a cry of glee, and began their assault on him. He had tried to fight them off helplessly, the little monsters pulling on everything, hair, clothes, down to the floor. When he realized they were pulling on his arm way too hard, he started calling for help, and no one came. It had become excruciating before suddenly he released a silent scream of agony, tears pouring from his face as he fell to the floor, passing out from the pain.

He woke up in medical days later, his arm gone and a port where it had once been. Looking around, he was alone, not even the much kinder Mrs. Henderson was here to comfort him. His new cybernetic arm was beside him on the table, and he clicked it into place, testing it. He was clumsy but he’d have to learn to use it. He went through a few weeks of therapy on the use of his arm, and was mute for another month longer before he spoke again.

It had been 8 years ago when this happened, and he was only 10 at that time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Hyperion (ツ)_/¯


	4. Damn Bandits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Jack catch a break? No.

Because he hadn’t taken too long to grab the key, he would have to run around and hide frequently until he was summoned by the kid (part of the rules so those who are summoned don’t just pop in at a bad time). No doubt Vasquez would find out his valuable key was missing, and more would be sent after him. Normally he could handle dozens single-handedly, but now he was just tired and needed to lie low in Hollow Point.

Just as he correctly assumed, he had been followed, but nothing entirely lethal thankfully, as he saw some sentry spheres that are especially susceptible to the magical pulses the key was emitting and the key seemed to respond to it, making him uneasy. He flew around for a bit, trying to stay cool if he nearly ran into one of the search spheres, ducking down into the city’s disgusting sewage system. Growing desperate and tired from his current form, it was time for plan B to mingle with the city folk.

Changing into his intimidating male form to ward off anyone who might feel like messing with him, he laughed to himself. He remembered kid’s cybernetic eye, and how it had been enchanted to see through his illusions. Maybe he’d just come back naked after all this, see if he felt so bossy with him then.

Around the city, which was full of con-artists, psychos like most areas of the planet, there was also new people some idiot rich people buying what they thought might be valuable from the vendors he observed. Some were real, some total garbage, but otherwise mostly legal. Corporations like Hyperion and those before them had made it illegal to carry certain magical items, whereas others were allowed by the public, no doubt you’d have to dig deeper to find a black market for the more interesting toys.

With all the auras of the humans around him, maybe the key’s pulse would be hidden better than it was. Or so he was thinking when he felt eyes on him, turning around but no one or anything seemed to be looking at him, even when he checked the planes. Weird. Totally normal and boring. He picked up an abandoned pocket knife next to a fresh body, flicking it open curiously, using the reflection to check behind him if he felt the gaze on him again.

He didn’t see anything but he _did_ feel the gaze, looking around. There seemed to be a couple of girls, one with a hat and short brunette hair with a streak, the other beside her with darker skin and dreads, sharp green eyes inspecting a gun the old man across from her was probably selling. Some people were watching them, or busy with their own devices, but no attention on him. He messed with the knife, once looking away. This time he’d catch who was checking him out. With patience, he felt the look again, whipping his head around. The girls and the old man were definitely watching, and now that they were caught, they had a silent stare down. He shut the knife, giving a shit-eating grin, and eventually, they looked away. Stretching and yawning, he smiled to himself as he decided it would be best to leave the area, the old man coughing. Tossing the knife away as he rounded the corner, the girls and the old man began to follow.

He wasn’t exactly surprised because this _was_ Hollow Point, but why single him out? Just ‘cause he was the new handsome face on the block? With all the idiots around here, maybe he could distract them with someone else with more money to distract them.

He went from one person to the next but they seemed completely focused on him. This form was starting to wear him down too, and this stalking was getting irritating. He headed down to an alley, where maybe if he was alone, he wouldn’t risk exposing himself too much, maybe disappear from their sight. Picking up the pace, the group did the same, so he’d have to be quick about this. Hiding beside a dumpster and hunkering down, he waited.

Just when he thought they had given up, he heard their footsteps pass by, holding his breath a little. His insides and bones were starting to get sore, how humans didn’t go stir crazy was beyond him…well maybe not, this was Pandora after all. Beanpole kid, Lilith, Brick, Vasquez, and now these people tailing him. He just needed to last a little longer and then he’d be free again, but until then, obey he must. Well actually no, first, he’d find out that kid’s name, strangle him, then-

More steps, but maybe it wasn’t the group, people walk around alleys all the time, just a coincidence.

Coincidences are bullshit actually.

He covered himself in a concealment spell, and finally, there they were, the two girls and the old man. He smiled, no way could he be seen while they looked about fruitlessly for him. And even if they did find him, they were at least alone so he wouldn’t expose himself too badly and set off alarms. A chill went down his spine when he realized how quiet they were. Just to be sure, he checked the planes. Still human all the way through.

Hat girl knelt down, and we were face to face, but Jack remained relaxed. Girl in dreads tapped her shoulder.

“It’s there.”

“Let’s get him.”

They both grabbed him, pinning him down against the wall as he struggled, beating him down. Grunting slightly, he regained composure and confidence. This is Jack of course, and he wasn’t about to be bothered about this even while the girls held down strongly. He set off a wave of heat and light, but the girls didn’t budge surprisingly, and yet, the brick and mortar and wood had been singed or already charred. He repeated the action with a much stronger output of energy, some alarms going off and people shouting in the distance.

To his disappointment, he expected to be surrounded by burned bodies, but here he still was in their death grip.

Well goddammit.

“Hold him tight, girls.” They old man said.

“Alright, what do you want?”

“The thing in your pocket, hand it over.” Hat-girl said.

“Says who?” he quipped.

“Says me. It’s a huge sphere in your pocket, so quit playing around,” the other girl said.

“Nah.”

“We’ll just have to take it from you then.” The old man shrugged.

“Do you even know who I am? None are you are magicians or anything.”

Green eyes narrowed at him and scoffed, “Hell no.”

“Well a magician would know better than to dick around with me.”

“I’m sure not even a magician would be calling you to begin with, evil pricks you are.”

True. First off, magicians don’t just call on him that often, and if they did find him they’d have to have other servants to see through his concealments, and then a more powerful djinn to hold him down. These strange humans had done all that on their own with no magic at all.

He laughed darkly, and maybe they wouldn’t catch him bluffing.

 “I’m just fucking with you-”

“You’re bluffing.” Hat-girl cut him off.

He relaxed then.

“Okay, okay, so you got me. You bandits are so courageous for nabbing me and all, so maybe give me your name and why you want me and maybe I’ll spare your lives. I have plenty of power and resources at my disposal for anything you want.”

“It’s a lie girls, don’t be tempted.”

“Hey listen gramps, let the ladies decide, you definitely want me as a friend rather than an enemy.”

“We don’t care about that.” They responded in unison. Ouch.

“We want whatever’s in your pocket.” Growled hat-girl.

“Can’t do that, or you fight me babe. Even if you had a chance of surviving, I’ll make a nice explosion that’ll alert authorities over here, and I’m sure all of you have bounties on your heads living in a place like this.”

The girls looked uncomfortable but didn’t relent in their grip on him.

“Enough chit-chat,” the old man said, shaking his head as he reached for his pocket.

“Watch out.”

They glared at him, and as he reached to his pocket, his head became that of a larva crab worm, pincers snapping at them all and flailing about from their grip. Just as they were about to regain their bearings, the old man holding a silver object, he became a smaller creature and scurried away in the darkness the silver now lodged in the wall where his abdomen had been moments before. Shouts and whoops came down the other side as he leapt into a dumpster, where he would stay for a while before moving along again.


	5. Gentle as a Dove...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys' upbringing as he learns the finer details as a magician and the environment of Hyperion.

The Senior Vice President of Securities Propaganda Saul Henderson was an experienced Magician of middle class rank. He had a decent living space with his wife, conveniently with his office down the hall to keep up with work. When a magician hit the age of 35, at some point afterwards, he would be expected to take on a successor that would eventually find his own job in Hyperion or take his place. He didn’t want or need one in his opinion, but at some point, he received the dreaded memo selecting him to take up the duty. He was ordered to head to the main office to pick up the nameless kid.

Walking up to the secretary desk, he stated his name and occupation, the secretary handing him some documents and directing him what to fill out.

“A boy then?” the man asked.

“Yeah, smart as a tack too, kind of shaken up obviously, might even piss himself any minute. Looks 8 or 9 at least.” The secretary replied frankly.

“And parents are gone?”

“Oh of course, took the money and fucking booked it, didn’t even say good bye.”

“Records terminated?”

“Naturally, name and birth information all destroyed, and under strict instruction to never reveal his name.”

“Perfect.”

Once finishing up, he was directed to the room where the kids were dropped off, some stuffed animals from across the galaxies littered the floor, a TV advertising magical weapons and armor flashing in the corner, some arts and crafts on a table with colored pencils haphazardly scattered all over, the walls completely sterile white. Considering the boy was the only one, it wasn’t difficult to spot him. It looked like he had been recently been crying his eyes out, his face red and puffy, sniffing a little but quieting when he had entered the room.

“I’m your boss now kid, your real life starts now.”

The brunet wiped his nose on his sleeve, following him quietly. Henderson tried to break the ice with some questions, but the youth only responded in short answers and not being cooperative with keeping the conversation going. It was very annoying for the man, so he gave up and they kept walking quietly back to the elevator, the boy staring at the floor.

* * *

His wife greeted them with hot brownies, vanilla ice cream and milk when they returned, sitting them down in the living room, the woman trying to get the boy to talk to her.

“If he isn’t going to talk to me I have no idea why he’d talk to you, Pam.”

“Don’t you see he’s scared? ‘Course he’s not talking, his family just up and left him.”

She remained stubborn, placing the bowl of brownie and ice cream and front of him. He didn’t even budge or seem to notice she was there, staring at the floor still. Mrs. Henderson decided to talk about herself over the course of a half hour, by which the ice cream had mostly melted before he finally started eating small bites of the treat tentatively. It was in fact more delicious than anything he’d had in his life.

“Okay sweetie, listen, I think it’s weird and just rude to call you “kid” or “boy” so how about you tell me your name? I know you’re not supposed to tell anyone, but I promise I won’t breathe it around anyone else or outside this room. It’ll let me get to know you better. So, how about it? I’m Pam, and you are…?”

“…Rhys.”

“Yeah, that feels nice doesn’t it? Promise I won’t tell, plus it’s a sweet name. Finish your brownie, clean up and I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping and studying. You’ll have your own place when you’re a little older but for now we’ll take care of you.”

When Rhys entered the room, it was very plain, with the most basic necessities, the bedsheets fresh but clearly cheap considering they were company brand, a night stand beside it. In front of the bed was a desk with a computer, and a trash can beside it in the corner, and a lone window of space. His bed at least kept him warm as he tried to rest.

* * *

 

Every morning he woke up, there would be gifts in his room, candy, flowers, sometimes little toys that Rhys would take apart and put together again, but it made his day brighter in a place that crushed your soul the way Hyperion was infamous for. In return for Mrs. Henderson’s kindness, he was attentive, helpful and more talkative around her. To his boss’s distaste, his wife continued using his birth name.

“There’s a _reason_ that we’re not supposed to know his name! When he becomes 18, he’ll get a new name and a title and work the ranks himself, and here you are-,”

“Would you relax? Nobody will find out, plus he looks happy when I do it.”

She was easily Rhys’ favorite person. One day, she surprised him with a gift.

“Check this out, Rhys.” Rhys swiveled to face her from his desk.

“What is it?”

The woman took the item she was hiding behind her back, a tube with a poster inside.

“I know it’s probably not the greatest thing I could have gotten you but I thought you’d like it.”

“A present?”

“Yeah, hang it up.”

He opened up the tube, unscrolling the poster. Upon it were some infamous marids, afrits, djinn, foliots, and imps with the Hyperion brand emblazoned, bragging that the best magicians were here on Helios. Cheesy yet, charming. He hung it up above his desk, swelling with pride and arms at his sides.

“One day, you’ll make it big. You gotta do it for your family, ‘cause you’re lucky, not many get to work here. You could be the boss someday, heck, the CEO.” She said.

“Yeah, I will.” He smiled appreciatively.

* * *

 

Rhys studied hard, learning about the planets around him, the history of Pandora mostly, the corporations that had come to colonize it, the feuds between them and the CEO position was always up in the air and was why so many deaths were happening on the space station, so he’d have to be careful once he made his debut. The company managed to survive from one boss to the next but that’s it, just surviving.

He learned music which he was good at, and was pleased to know that he could sing to charm a lamia if he had to. He also started learning other languages, some old, some that could be useful for when he traveled to other planets one day.

Coding and math were a slight struggle when he became 15, but at least he had made a friend in the process of learning it, making it easier than being stressed out if he didn’t understand something. Vaughn was also a favorite person he got along with, didn’t have qualms about his arm and he also shared his name with him in secret.

“Okay so why do I have to write it like this?” he groaned.

“Dude, it’ll help your memory to write the code accurately. Sure, you won’t be in a desk job like me, but you’ll be doing something greater with memorization of the numbers and prompts.”

He was almost done, but stared skeptically.

“Okay but what’s the point, bro.”

“Lemme see your work…okay see you did this wrong over here, and you got your steps mixed up.”

“It’s just a tiny mistake, what’ll it cost me, huh?”

“Um, your life? Do you have a death wish, Rhys? Let a powerful spirit kill you because of a mistake?” The brunet rolled his eyes in response.

“Noooooo.”

“Thought so, so rewrite it.”

“Vaughn!” he whined.

“Fine, let’s go eat then, I won’t tell Henderson I let you off easy.”

While getting food at the cafeteria that day, he met Yvette, positioned in requisitions when she had forgotten her wallet. The three kept it a secret of her embarrassing meeting, and he was lucky that she had accepted his friendship along with the food. This may have also been because he was fresh here at the company and not really a threat either considering his kindness. He saw her from time to time, but should he need her, “don’t be afraid to give me a ring”.

Life was starting to brighten up for him, until the party he had attended before his 17th birthday.


	6. ...Clever as a Snake.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's Rhys' game anyways...? Also Rhys loses control of the situation, classic.

The sun was rising too slowly for Jack’s tastes. But one would agree if you were running on and off, sneaking around, and hiding repeatedly throughout the night in Hollow Point from being harassed by nearly everything and everyone. The most humiliating thing by far was mostly being held down by the three humans. If the old guy was out of the equation, Jack may have considered himself pretty damn lucky. But that was neither the time nor place.

Spheres wandered around, no doubt still searching for him when he had moved elsewhere since Hollow Point became too exciting for him, and settled down in a rundown building full of taxidermies of Pandoran wild life and it got creepier when humans were also included. Incidentally, some of said human corpses still had some magical items on them that helped mask his presence with the Gortys emitting its own pulse. The sunlight spilled inside, waiting for the summons that the kid had promised.

Princess was probably sleeping in like humans his age probably did. As he waited, he started collecting his thoughts that had occurred to him over the course of the night.

To begin, there was no way he could see long-legs was working on his own. Someone had to have set him up, someone more powerful for sure. It was highly possible that the kid’s boss wanted to put Vasquez in his place, and if he was caught the kid would take the fall for it, get air-locked, killed, etc. Now, higher powers were after them both, indirectly or otherwise. Just the simple fact that Vasquez had managed to get a hold of Lilith and Brick at the same time told him as much, and the kid wasn’t going to last long if he came face-to-face.

Then there was ha-girl with her little family, who didn’t so much as falter in their pursuit, saw past his lies and illusions and guessed he had something valuable on him without him even toying with it while waiting, and holding him down like nothing. There didn’t seem to be anything related to the current power struggle on Helios, but it was interesting nonetheless. It had been thousands of years since anyone had pinned him down like that.

Finally, he felt the familiar tug on his essence as he was being summoned…

…and appeared back in the brunet’s room.

“Okay, what the fuck.” He demanded.

“I command you Jack to tell me if you completed your mi-“

“Holy shit kid, yes, I did, of course,” he cut him off grumpily, retrieving the sphere from his pocket and removing the shrink charm on it, and returning it to its original size.

“Your precious vault key, the Gortys. August and Vasquez had it, now you do. Enjoy the punishment that’s coming your way princess. Now I was asking about the extra coding you got on this circle here.”

Brown and Blue eyes lit up with pride, putting his hands at his hips and standing taller than he already was.

“Atlas Pentacle, obviously.” What a smug shit. This could spell problems if that was the case, Jack making a big show of carefully checking for any shaky work or misspellings or improper breaks in the code.

“Waitaminute pumpkin, you coded this all wrong…Know what that means?” He gave a shark’s grin, raising a hand as if to strike.

The brunet bit his lip, getting red in the face in a strange mix of embarrassment and anger, but didn’t bolt, and quickly skimmed over the circle.

“You asshole, my work is fine! You’re still at my mercy.”

“Fine, I lied,” he relented, giving a small laugh. “So, do ya want this or not?”

“Um, roll it my way, steadily.”

Jack placed it on the ground, rolling it to the other circle, the other catching it under his boot before picking it up. He made a face and retched.

“UGH Wh- Where has this been?”

“Not my problem, blame the dirty ass planet and its sewers. Oh wait, no, I take that back, blame yourself for sending me on this mission to begin with and getting chased around a quarter of the planet.”

“You…got chased?” he asked in awe. Not the reaction he was aiming for.

“I’m warning you kiddo, they’ll sniff you out and be arriving here, really pissed off. You’ll be defenseless without me, so your best bet is to let me go so I can get you out of all this.”

Well, out of Jack’s way before he got in Vasquez’s of course. It would be a merciful death.

“Do you think I’m stupid?

“Stupid is written all over you now that you’re holding Gortys. Whatever, I’ve finished the job, so see ya, wouldn’t want to be ya, kiddo!”

Jack’s form began to shimmer and fade slowly, but he wouldn’t really be going anywhere with Atlas’ pentacle at work.

“Wait, you can’t go! I still have stuff for you to do.”

Of course he did. With a regular summoning circle, the servant get a task then leaves, if a magician had another task in mind, then they’d have to redo the summoning circle. Atlas’ pentacle allowed for a shortcut, and allowed for further instructions to be made.

“Where’s your boss?”

“My boss…?”

“Your boss, your master, the head honcho behind the scenes? Who told you what to say, how to say it, write the coding and using you as a shield when Vasquez comes to collect? You’re too sweet looking to have set this up on your own, cupcake. What did they promise a code-monkey like you, huh? ”

The kid glared and seemed to pout even. Jack continued in a mocking tone.

“Good job kiddo, you seem smart and talented, do ya want a promotion? Probably the hardest worker I’ve seen in a while, how about we just play a joke on somebody, and it’ll be fucking hilarious!”

And then the kid fucking laughed, stopping Jack. This was…new. He had expected the young man to lose his cool, get angry and flustered even. But no, he only smirked and laughed, spinning Gortys in his hands, looking Jack straight in the eye.

“What are you up to now?” Jack asked.

“I’m handing it back to you.”

“Fuck off, I don’t want it.”

“Take it.” He commanded.

He didn’t want to argue longer than necessary, picking it up once it rolled back.

“So what’s next pumpkin? I’m not holding this for you so that Vasquez finds me, because I will not hesitate to point your direction when you start cowering.”

“Hold on, Jack.”

He opened his cybernetic hand, a hologram image produced from it, and he began murmuring to whoever was on the line. While he was preoccupied, Jack took in the room. Still covered in posters, the monitor turned off, some post-it notes, and a notebook with a sketchbook beside it, codes and drawings of weapons but no signatures. No gift cards made to him, nothing to pin him down, let alone a name tag on his person. The kid finished his conversation, shutting off the display.

“Jack, I now command you to hide Gortys in Saul Henderson’s office, hide it so well that he won’t find it, make sure that no one else human or otherwise sees you enter or leave the office; then come back here for more orders, no one can see or hear you.”

Jack rolled his eyes, the brunet not allowing him to misinterpret his order with pauses or mistakes in his speech.

“Alright sweet pea, so where’s Henderson’s office?”

“Just down the hall.”

"Oh wow, already setting up the boss, huh? Reminds me of well...me, which is weird."

"I'm not setting him up, Gortys will be secure there, no one will find it if you do your job...if they do..."

"Then no one's the wiser. You are devious cupcake."

"No one will know."

"Keep telling yourself that babe." 

And with that, he shrank down Gortys, changing his form into a small beetle, exiting the room through the vents. While this mission was certaintly foll of surprises, overall it wasn't completely insane, especially if he remembered how people back-stabbed each other here at Hyperion, then this was just the usual. Especially with corporate types, framing other co-workers, most definitely, but the boss? A rarity, because usually there was ass-kissing. He had to hand it to the  kid, he was kind of proud of him.

Jack made his way to the office, Gortys seemed to neutralize any security to the room as he entered it. Once inside, he got a good look around, finding a closet, shoving it deep inside, before removing the charm, and it remained well-hidden. Why the kid thought this was any safer than when he had stolen it to begin with was beyond him, but orders were orders. Mission accomplished, it was time to head back.

When he did head back, he was pleasantly surprised to see the brunet rushing past him from his room in a huff, a nervous biting of his lip. If he left the pentacle, then Jack could take advantage of the situation, learning about him until he was allowed to return with him without being seen or heard.

"Right over here." A woman spoke.

"Alright."

"Saul, Rhys is here now."

Ohohoho, now he had a handle on the kid, and was pleased to see Rhys flinch, eyes darting and scanning for any sign of Jack. To make it easy for him, Jack danced around on the wall and fluttered his wings, and Rhys became a ghostly white, a good enough sign that he had been spotted.

While Jack taunted him with obscene gestures with his legs, Henderson grunted, pinching his nose at the tablet in front of him.

"Can you believe what we're putting up for propaganda? They're making a movie where a girl falls for a djinni, and most propaganda is dangerous but this is waaay different, it's as bad as vampire novels!"

"I kinda wanted to see it, did the tickets sell out?"

Rhys was curious as well, but he wouldn't say that out loud to anyone, especially with a certain djinni in the room, who undoubtedly would never let him live it down once he returned to his room.

"Ugh, we should know by now that it's just not possible. So, I called you here boy," he began, setting the tablet down.

"Yes you did sir."

"Right, so I talked to your peers and trainers and they've written phenomenal things about you. Now even though there was that crazy stunt of yours last year, I don't think you deserve this but I think it's time that you make your first summons."

Obviously Henderson was expecting an enthusiastic reaction, but Rhys didn't have time for that as there was Jack to think about at the moment.

"What's the matter with you? If you're scared then you won't be ready to take on the environment of the company."

"I'm definitely ready sir, I'm just...in shock?" he tried.

"Well I'll be supervising, setting up the charms and the rosemary. You'll start something basic, and if you can even do that right, we'll move right along."

The older man seemed totally unable to read the mood, even as Rhys faked his excitement rather poorly.

"Oh thank you soooo much, sir. I"ll be looking forward to it."

"Good, and you got your lens?"

"I did, they came in yesterday."

"Perfect, then next-"

"Um-"

"Don't cut me off! I'm your boss, so don't interrupt. Anyway, you'll have to register your chosen official name and title. Meet me in the office at 3pm for that so we can get you into the system."

"Yes, sir."

This day was just getting better and better. The kid had stupidly summoned him without destroying his former identity first, and now he had allowed his birth name to be discovered. 

This definitely evened the playing field now that they were on a familiar first name basis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should be working on a single-space ten page paper but it's not as fun as writing as much as I can for this au tbh. Extra long in comparison actually.


	7. Just Desserts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why is Rhys trying to screw Vasquez? This is why.

It had been a good day for Rhys. He treated Yvette to lunch, did lots of studying for his future, music to relax him as he and Vaughn took a break to chat. He had been very productive today.

"You can't get impatient Rhys."

"Easy for you to say, Henderson hardly lets me do anything aside from this internship job, the magic studies, anything. I could do it all blindfolded. And I'd really like to talk to whatever we summon, even if they spout bull."

"Which is baaad, you're not supposed to."

"He doesn't know what I'm capable of, I probably know more than he does, I just have to take his place or go someplace better."

"Is that really true though?"

"Well...I know the prompts to direct and command, and if he just let me do it, I could totally have a djinni at my command."

"Bragging is not a good look for you. Henderson will see your potential soon and you can move up where you want to."

"You mean WE could. You, Yvette and I."

"Bro, that means a lot, but you know we can't do that."

"And why not?"

"It's against the rules, people like you who learn magic just get to be at the top."

Rhys sighed because it was true. Being a magician had perks, but maybe he could make Hyperion less murder-y, bring his friends up anyway, and make some good change. For now, he'd just have to bide his time until he could show what he was really made out of.

"I better go now, plus you have to get ready for that reception party don't you? That's like your debut right?"

"Well I shouldn't draw too much attention."

"Yeah, don't overdo it, bro."

"Thanks bro, wish me luck."

"I will, bro."

"See ya, bro." he laughed, shoving him out of his room.

* * *

After he tidied himself up a bit, there was a knock at his door, calling for him to hurry on up. Today he could maybe meet potential co-workers, maybe a rival even. Nonetheless, the party would do him some good, and with a final check of his hair, he headed to the reception.

In all honesty, it wasn't as exciting as you might think. 

It was pretty quiet, some murmurs as he entered and tried to find his boss. When he did, he kept a neutral expression, joining in to listen to their conversation which abruptly stopped at his presence.

"There you are, you're late!"

The men and women in the group scrutinized him, murmuring comments to one another.

"Too skinny..."

"Wimpy kinda..."

"This is the future? How...not intimidating..."

Rhys couldn't help but frown at this, but remained silent. They hardly looked intimidating either, but he wasn't trying to get himself killed tonight.

"How old are you kid?" a man who clearly had extensions asked.

"Sixteen, I'll be seventeen in-"

"Still a while before this kid will be doing anything remotely special." said man interrupted him.

Wow, he did not need these insults or harassment, he could find better company.

"I see the look on your face...too good for us, huh?"

The brunet turned around and started walking. Definitely didn't need this. He would not be goaded.

"Won't even talk to us now."

He turned his nose upward indignantly. What was this guy's problem?

"Hold on there, maybe Henderson isn't as useless if you can show what you know."

Nope nope nope, keep walking. Like Vaughn said, no need to prove what he already knows to be true, right?

"How many unique weapons does Hyperion sell?"

"4 types," he answered without missing a beat.

"Name seven out of ten of the individual weapons."

"Fibber, Bane, Commerce, Heart Breaker, Slow Hand, Fremington's Edge, Morningstar." 

"Let's see how your magic is; How many types of classified types of spirit are there?"

"13,046"

One question was shot at him after the other, and he just kept answering, correctly of course. He was proud of himself, Henderson seemed to be too. Rhys could thank himself for that, Hyperion's environment taught him to take care of himself, and that included learning as much as possible on his own. Once the man finished, Rhys was quite pleased with himself.

"Well if you can answer that then this company is probably gonna run itself to the ground. We learned these things as babies, right boys?" he joked to his colleagues, which earned him some laughter.

"What's running us into the ground is you taking company money for those shitty extensions, wallet-head."

There was a sudden hush. The man then spoke just one word and the brunet was suddenly on the ground, followed by the man kicking him. He groaned in pain as the man knelt down to him.

"You think you're hot shit, huh? I'll tell you what. When you inevitably work for me, you can be my Vice Assistant Janitor, so every time shit flies out of your mouth, you can clean it up yourself. There's not enough room for the two of us. I'll let you off with that."

The unseen force holding him down released him, and Rhys was now livid by the humiliation he had just endured. So he left. On the way out, he checked the attendance sheet, using his cybernetic hand to run the names with faces.

He found out the man's name was Hugo P. Vasquez.

* * *

For what he would consider his seventeenth birthday, he voluntarily removed his left eye for an ECHOeye, giving it the fancy ability to see spirits on the 4th plane. He studied harder, gaining more and more knowledge before making his first summons without a hitch. With all this power accumulating, he used it to spy on Vasquez when he located his office, which was when he found out about the vault key deal.

He began to plot further before finding a demon with a rather amazing track record, especially in Hyperion's history, and on Pandora, even slightly distracted by the preferred form the djinni took when he appeared to those who summoned him.

There was some truth to the Handsome title after all.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably not gonna update again until sometime after Easter, which is where things actually get interesting OTL I started a tumblr, nothing on it but if you want to find me, I'm at firewindmill


	8. How the Turn Tables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's had enough of being bossed around, so let's hope he escapes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm back! I've got a lot written in a notebook over the weekend so here's this chapter!

Jack was now better prepared now that he had learned Rhys' name. He wanted to taunt the kid for all the trouble up until now, settling on his preferred form, it just felt right with this kid. Probably because he sensed Rhys was low-key attracted to him. Now to be at the ready with counter spells and get out of dodge. When the young man returned, he hopped back in the circle and called him out, and Jack appeared before immediately.

"So... Rhys, very fancy, cute even."

"That's not my name, now I command-"

"I'm not stupid Rhysie, this ain't my first rodeo, but I intend on riding it out of here."

"Whatever, I command-"

"LALALALA, you can fuck off."

"I-"

"I'm not listening!" he sang.

It felt so good to watch as Rhys got mad, he growled even, running his hands through brown locks. He calmed a bit before attempting to shut Jack up with the spell he had attempted earlier when he first gave Jack a task. Jack gave a smirk, murmuring his name followed up with a counter-spell, and Rhys panicked before canceling it before it could recoil back to him. A moment too late and Jack could have cut the kid's head off.

"Looks like you're losing your touch there Rhysie," he teased. This was cut short when the brunet uttered a few words, sending electricity coursing through his body. Jack screamed in pain, but found the strength to push beyond it.

" _Rhys,_ " he said, followed with the counter-spell, the lightning hitting the walls, the computer in the corner exploding with sparks, some bolts hitting the walls and dissipating. Rhys had ducked and went flat onto the ground within the circle, just in time before the bolts could have killed him. If he had survived the hit, he would most definitely be injured where his cybernetics were attached to his body from the charge. He peeked one brown eye through metal fingers before getting back onto his feet and assessing the damage. Jack could only give a shark's grin.

"We could dance like this all day sweet-pea, hopefully you get where you want to in life by then."

Rhys glared at him, fuming silently as he was clearly thinking about what went wrong.

"Face it pumpkin, you should probably let me go, Plus I'm sure people will come from all over Helios to see what you're up to."

"Shut up! Just...let me think...god, what did you do?!" Suddenly it clicked for him.

"My name...of course, you negated it with my name!"

"Now you're getting it! Good job, kiddo!" he mocked with clapping hands.

"Okay you know what, stop calling me kiddo! Don't disrespect me like I'm a kid."

"Takes one to know one, cupcake."

Rhy's ECHOeye glowed as he searched for any information on how to control an entity like Jack SOMEHOW, and then the eye stopped before he snarled and gave up, finding nothing.

"I'll figure something out..."

"Oooh, you got my essence shaking princess!"

The djinni watched as the gears kept turning in the teen's head, metaphorical or otherwise. The Kid looked dog tired, overexerting himself from the earlier spells.

"Talk to your boss, maybe he could help."

"What? You're kidding."

"Nah, not what's-his-face, the one ordering you around behind the scenes."

"Nobody. I don't have anybody. This is all me."

Jack's eyebrows raised, and he whistled.

"Wow, well done pumpkin, color me impressed. Allow me to offer you a protip then. Let me go. Gortys is already secure, you can relax and I mean RE-LAX." he said, emphasizing the syllables.

"With all that stress, you're gonna get all wrinkly with worry and frowning and next your pretty brown hair will turn grey. A waste of a pretty face. What'll ya do when you summon your first succubus, huh?"

Rhys' face grew hot, covering his face in his hands.

"Just please shut up, oh my god..."

"I could if I were y'know. Gone. A lot less suspicious without me around, you'll be able to use Gortys without anyone knowing. Didn't tell ya before but some girls tried to snatch her from me."

"What girls?" he blinked.

He shrugged, not providing further answer.

"Whatever, I don't care about them. Vasquez is the one on getting revenge on after he humiliated me." Rhys said.

"Getting sucked into the vengeance shtick is very unhealthy for you." the djinni commented.

"Why...?"

"Well..."

"No, forget it. I command-"

"Whoa, hold your horses. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know your name Rhysie-cakes. It means I have leveled the playing-field. It's not a one-way street anymore."

"I can still tell you what to do."

"Right, buuuut I could also slip your name to anybody, heck, another fellow spirit."

Jack thought he had stumped him there, but Rhys was both determined and resourceful when desperate times called for desperate measures.

"You're right...I can't stop you form selling me out. But I can pull you down with me."

From his pocket, he procured a flash drive, sliding open a compartment where a scent of rosemary drifted from it, and Jack recoiled at the smell.

"Inside, as I'm sure you can tell already, there is rosemary. You'll be sealed in the flash drive. See what that does for your looks "handsome"."

"So you do think I look good." He quipped despite how unfortunately clever Rhys was.

"A-anyway, your new mission is coming up. Before that, I'll be placing a spell of indefinite imprisonment, which will activate a month from now. If I'm not around when it does start up, that's where you'll end up until someone opens it."

"Did I mention you're absolutely devious?"

"If you try and break any rules I set, I'll throw this flash drive into space. Don't expect to escape for a very long time."

"Ugh. Okay then."

"How's that sound?"

"Maybe we can just forget getting me lost in space and put some trust in me."

"Not a chance, I trust you as far as I can throw you."

Jack sighed, relenting.

"Okay Rhys, so what do you have in mind?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now maybe you understand my title lmao.  
> I'll probably upload more on Thursday this week if things go well, and then another update Saturday or Sunday. Good stuff I have in store, hope some of you are looking forward to it.


	9. My name is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys guarantees his safety, and gets registered in Hyperion's system under his official name. Jack collects info in the meantime.

" _This_ is your plan? I think I should be flattered."

"Don't. You're just pretending, that is ALL. You are...my boyfriend and when the occasion calls for it; bodyguard. Which is why you're going to be around me a lot sometime soon, and you keep your eyes and ears open around Helios for where Vasquez was planning to open the vault, and what monster is guarding it. Then I can plan on how we take it down before Vasquez does. If I do, then I can be the guy that makes Hyperion filthy rich right at the beginning of my career."

"Right. Well I'll get to hunting then, sweetheart." the spirit teased.

"We're _alone_ , you don't have to call me that," he glanced away in response.

"I gotta practice getting into character don't I?"

"Just go! You have your mission, Jack."

The djinn laughed, disappearing from the room, while Rhys could only collapse to the floor, head in his hands. How could he have been so careless as to let his name, no his _birth_ name be revealed? There were deadly consequences if a spirit learned your name. The stories were not pretty now that he thought about all the reports in the past when a magician's name traveled through the spirit wire until one day...

He choked on a sob, he was done for, finished, blood in the water and everyone could smell it, good as de-

No. No he wasn't He had his solution already. He just had to carry out his threat. It was almost 3pm however, and he couldn't afford to be late to his naming registration into Hyperion's system. For now he just had to hope that Jack stayed out of trouble until then. Needing to calm his nerves, he called Vaughn on his ECHOcomm.

"Hey br- Whoa, you look...really...um..."

"Like shit, I know. Sorry I'm just...nervous, needed to talk to somebody." Rhys explained.

"What is it?"

"Um...a lot of things?"

"Oh wait! Don't you get your new name today?" Vaughn asked.

"Y-yeah, part of why I'm nervous, bro."

"I thought you'd be more excited, you'd be safer then."

"Well sure but I want to make sure it's a name that's  not already taken or not too recent. The bigger reason is that I'm uh...doing my first summoning today too." he lied.

"Wow, that sounds great! Maybe one day you could find a way to show me what that looks like."

"Maybe. Hey, if something happened to me...I know it sounds crazy to ask, but would you have my back?"

"Sure bro, why?"

"Just asking. Anyway, I feel better now I think. Thanks Vaughn. I gotta go bro, how about you see me in a few days?"

"Sure, see ya bro."

The line disconnected, and then he called Yvette, who took a little longer to pick up.

"Hey kid, what's kickin'?" she greeted.

"Not much. Well no, that's a lie. I'm getting named and I'm making my first summoning."

"Ooohh how exciting. Maybe after you're done we can have a celebratory lunch. On me this time. But that isn't the only reason why you called is it?" she asked perceptively.

"You caught me. It's kind of an important question. No matter what happens, would you do whatever you could to help me if I asked?"

The woman blinked at that, brows furrowing in thought at the question but gave a relaxed smile.

"Sure, I can only do so much but I'll do what I can."

"Thanks, that means a lot. I'm just kind of nervous about starting up now."

"Nothing different than the usual, you can handle it."

"Of course. I gotta go now, so I'll see you around." Mhm, stay out of trouble."

He laughed, sighing as he hung up. Not happening at this point.

* * *

 

Rhys made it back to his boss' office and after some time and a little bit of sucking up, they decided on an acceptable public name. Troy Alton. He signed the necessary documents, which were then sent off to be added to the system. Within 24 hours, they would be processed and he could look for a department where he was needed. As a magician, he had high priority over people who only could apply but couldn't guarantee a position.

"Alright Troy, it's a good thing you're registered now, all magicians and their successors are invited to a board members' party in 3 days, not only the board members will be there however. Other important people from competing companies like Dahl, Maliwan, you know the names. You better look good, I can't have you embarrass me like you did last year."

"Yes sir, that sounds amazing."

"Good, you're dismissed."

* * *

Once he left the office, he sighed, but it was not time to relax yet, even at a djinni's insistence. The djinni was the precise reason he needed to relax. He headed back to his room, performing the imprisonment spell on the flash drive, pocketing it afterwards. He made his way across the station to the trash chute where items that couldn't otherwise be recycled or destroyed were placed. He tossed it in, watching as it disappeared in the inky black.

He didn't make much contact with anyone as he walked away, but now he really could calm down. The deed was done and he was safe.

* * *

Jack located Vasquez's office, and tried to look like a busy janitor cleaning up the halls. For a couple days he did this as he observed who went in and who went out, and in particular, Jerry, a mere lowly secretary was organizing Vasquez's operations; the orders Vasquez made, messages and more, maybe some hints to juicy information. Then he tracked when Jerry took his breaks, which were very consistent.

He could become buddy-buddy with this fellow.

Or he could beat him up for the information he needed.

Yeah that sounded much faster.

Waiting for him to finish and head into the bathroom for break, he concealed himself. As soon as the secretary dried his hands in the bathroom, Jack pinned him down and quieted him.

"Don't make a sound unless I tell you to. You're gonna answer my questions and when we're done, you never saw me and you keep living," he said in an almost friendly tone.

"Here's what I wanna know: Who is Vasquez contacting these days? The important people, vault hunters, corporate big wigs, people like that."

"Idiot, you think I'll tell you something like that? He'll kill me if I spill."

"Some friendly advice; talk nicely, I'm not patient."

"Oh yeah? you can shove your advice up-"

Jack rolled his eyes, squeezing the man's windpipe, followed by the pleasant sound of desperate rasping. Pleasant to Jack anyway.

"Let's try again cupcake, who is Vasquez talking to? Try and flatter me while you're at it."

The man gasped, but now was far more cooperative to his demands.

"He kept contact with Maliwan mostly but yes, he did contact some big name vault hunters..."

"Excuse me, what?"

"...oh handsome one."

"Good. I can only assume for the vault itself. What are their names?"

"We've got no one on the job yet but we recently have begun negotiations with Zer0 and Athena, gorgeous."

Jack wasn't familiar with these names but perhaps the kid knew them, so he filed the info for later. Perhaps they could find them and turn the situation in their favor, sweeping the vaults rewards from under Vasquez. It was unlikely that Jerry knew anymore than that but it was helpful. For now he'd have to hack into the company's systems and find where the vault was being opened and when.

"Can I go now, oh heroic one?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't so much as breathe about me in anyway shape or form, got it?"

The man nodded quickly, running out of the bathroom.

* * *

Without so much as tickling Hyperion's security,  he found the coordinates where Vasquez was about to open the vault. The date had been postponed for obvious reasons but that was irrelevant if Rhys could beat him to the location with Gortys in hand. Or without if they could convince potential vault hunters to switch alliances. It was important to know why they had been hired, both excellent fighters, and with that information came the mysterious Gortys herself. A robot as it would turn out with the magical abilities to take on the fighting capabilities of the pilots. Why would Gortys need that? Because the vault monster itself was going to be a major bitch, and by that, it could teleport. Gortys holding the vault and the monster in place and defeating it was crucial to getting the vault's loot. Bonus if they accidentally killed Vasquez in the process.

With a plan now in mind, he had a boyfriend to return to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When have pretend boyfriends ever succeeded in being a thing? Find out next chapter. Also look forward to chapter 10, chapter 11 isn't finished yet, I just started it though.


	10. You Gotta Make a Big Impression (Oh yeah) Gotta Like What You Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is embarrassing as usual, what else is new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⁽˙³˙⁾◟(๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)◞⁽˙³˙⁾ Now kiss! Title inspired by Genie in a Bottle, cause I had to.

"I cannot listen to this right now Jack, I have to get ready for this big party, you're coming with me and we'll talk about what you heard later." Rhys interrupted him.

"Are you fucking kidding me, after all I've done for you?"

"Hey! You still have to pretend to be my..."boyfriend" so the job isn't done yet. If anybody asks, you're Jack Lawrence, from coding, you just submitted your job application so you don't know if you're even hired yet. If we have to run for any reason, then there's an explanation why you're gone."

"So...okay, I just gotta hold your hand and make out with you every now and then babe?"

"Yes! I mean...yes." he answered more calmly.

"Easy-peasy, be prepared to be swept off your feet."

"I will hit you if you pick me up." the brunet threatened.

"Domestic violence isn't very loving Rhysie."

"Just... don't embarrass me."

"You're doing a fine job all on your own."

"Because YOU embarrass me all the time!"

"Nah, you got no swagger, no substance. I can tell you haven't even kissed anyone before, so how are you going to make this work, hm?" he crossed his arms, waiting for an answer.

"..."

"Rhys?"

"I've kissed before, it'll be fine."

"Romantically? You're a fucking liar."

"...Okay fine, not romantically."

The djinni grinned, settling down at the edge of the bed.

"Well before you get all prettied up for this party, maybe try and actually look like you like me when we have to kiss. Make a big impression. C'mon, settle down Rhysie." he coaxed him down to sit. Meanwhile Rhys was silent but not fighting him. Maybe he had been right about the kid's underlying attraction.

"Okay Jack, so...since you're the pro at this, how do you think human couples kiss?"

The elder tsked at him.

"First off, you gotta stay relaxed at all times, which is pretty useful to stay calm in the face of death itself, same goes for smoochin' hot djinni's like yours truly."

He could see how stiff Rhys was, squeezing his shoulders and despite the apprehension in his eyes, his master did start to relax. Neither had nothing to lose as Jack was already bound to protect him, or otherwise face imprisonment. The young magician sighed as his muscles eased out the tension.

"Then what?"

"Just feel it out, let me work my magic. You gotta trust me, and I know that sounds really ehhh but you gotta do it... and close your eyes." he added.

Brown and blue eyes gave him a skeptical look before closing them.

"I swear, you're going to space faster if you do any-"

The djinni only chuckled in the middle of his beginning rant, hushing him with a finger to his lips.

"Relax I said."

The brunet huffed, and waited. Then it got too quiet, which was making him nervous, especially because Jack was not quiet. Just as he was becoming impatient, he flinched slightly at the rough texture of Jack's hands, surprisingly warm as they gently cupped his face. He hardly had a chance to process this when he felt lips on his. He started concentrating on every minute detail, but mostly distracted with how pleasant it was to be treated gently, but it felt like something was missing from all this...

And just as he was starting to grasp what it was, Jack had stopped.

"You gonna start kissing back anytime soon or have I effectively left you speechless?"

Rhys scoffed at that, but was also frustrated.

"I will, just...getting a feel for it like you're saying."

The young man scooted forward, tentatively returning the kiss and gained some confidence as Jack kept quiet and gave him a sense of direction of how to respond, and it didn't seem like that long but Jack had stopped, leaving him gasping slightly. Of course, Jack didn't need to breathe except when stupid herbs stifled him, so no wonder that he was indeed, left breathless.

"Not bad, Rhysie, not bad. You learn quick."

"Thanks I guess?"

"Mhm, now one more time, gotta make sure you got it down."

"What? Isn't twice enough, especially if you complimented me?"

"What can I say? Third time's a charm, right? Or something to that effect...plus I gotta try one more thing so that I don't catch you too terribly off guard. Still trust me, Rhys?"

"...Yes." he decided. He immediately regretted this decision, but not for the reason one would expect. This time, Jack gave a much harder, rougher kiss, cradling the back of his neck, and Rhys grabbing onto him for support despite the fact that he was already on his back from the force. The gentle kisses had been nice before, and while Rhys was terrified of the energy Jack exerted upon him, he was becoming just as quickly and incredibly concerned because he _liked_ it.

Jack must **never** know this.

He would die if Jack ever picked up the slightest hint that he liked this, and therefore, must never know, ever. Just the idea of the possible teasing made him groan a little.

"Bro?!"

Rhys pushed Jack off him, albeit rather weakly, but Jack got the message, moving off of him with a grin.

"Vaughn!" he gasped, "Hey man, what are you doing here?"

"Uh...you told me to come by sometime?"

"Oh...oh shit I'm so sorry I forgot..." he began apologizing.

"Don't stress bro, you were nervous that day and you've probably been busy these past few days. So...is this a bad time or...?"

"Uh, sorry, no you're fine."

"Oh good." Vaughn then took a seat, but still seemed somewhat perturbed at finding his friend in the state he had been in.

"Well first, what's your name now?"

"Troy, Troy Alton." he answered.

"Okay. Troy. And...who's this guy?"

"Boyfriend, Jack Lawrence." the djinni offered, "Just applied for coding department, visiting sweet Troy over here and hoping to move in, isn't that right, cupcake?"

"Y-yeah."

"Oh, well that explains that then. And R- I mean, Troy, how did the summoning go?"

"Just perfect, Henderson acted unimpressed as usual."

"Oh, well glad to hear it went well anyway."

"Yeaaaah..." Rhys trailed. The awkward atmosphere was stifling and Rhys wanted to get swallowed into the floor.

"I know I said I would come over, but seeing that you're fine and everything, I need to step out, something came up today and it has to be done tonight. Catch you later?" the short man asked as he rose from his seat, fixing his glasses.

"Oh yeah, sure, I'll let you know when I'm available."

"Sounds good, have fun I guess."

The sound of the door closing was tangibly and uncomfortably audible.

"I hate you."


End file.
